Yes, when I started implementing upserts in my app, I found the code in the upsert acceptance test first. Only later did I find the Upsert Block example in the second link.
The Upsert Block example looks very clean; I plan on refactoring my code to use that style. But the “old” upsert style is working fine as well (without ludicrous mode). Is there a problem with this “old” style that I am not aware of?